: What are some mind tricks to eat better I've been trying to eat healthier lately. And over all I am. But I know I could be doing far better. I'm wondering what 'mind tricks' could one play on their self to start getting

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I enjoy the answers already provided; I think I have a few more that personally worked for me.

Invest in a calorie-counting device. There are many calorie-counting devices in the market; purchase one of them. This allows you to know your average calorie expenditure. If you log your calorie intake without logging your calorie expenditure, you're only getting half of the answers. I believe that knowing your calorie expenditure is much more important. If your daily calorie consumption is 3,000 calories and your expenditure is 4,000 calories, you can theoretically lose about 2 pounds of fat a week. Your calorie consumption should depend on your calorie expenditure.
Have a constant calorie ceiling. Based on your calorie expenditure, put a limit on your calorie consumption. Use an actual value or a short range (between 2,000 and 2,200 calories) daily.
Pay attention to the calories in front of you. Based on your calorie expenditure, pay attention to the food in front of you. If your daily cap is 2,000 calories and you've already consumed 1,500 calories, this lets you realize that your current food should be less than 500 calories. Over time, this will allow you to develop a calorie-consumption pattern.
Invest in a full length mirror As cheesy as this sounds, it does work. Strip yourself naked and check yourself out every now and then. Seeing your current state staring back at you gives you more motivation/energy to get rid of excess fat. Or bulk up (if that is what your body needs).
Exercise constantly. There's a strong incentive to reduce calorie consumption when you realize that you have to work hard to burn those calories. Imagine if you're about to have a 2,000 calorie dinner and you realized that your high intensity, heart-pumping, "oh-my-gosh, I'm gonna pass out" exercise schedule will only burn 700 calories. Unless you love punishing yourself, you're more likely to bypass that dinner.

I'm pretty sure there are more options out there and would welcome more answers from others. But these have helped me so far and I know of a few people that have been helped as well.

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I wanted to actually respond to one idea I actually use my self. And that is to go to the store after you have your meals and are filled.

Going before a meal when getting hungry, can for one hurt your wallet. But it seems to be far easier to get junk food when doing so.

Going after eating not only makes me look at things much picker at the store, such as "that doesn't sound good", I've also noticed that when I do this, I tend to shop better with a planned set of meals. Since I don't feel as much getting anything else. I think more about what goes into a meal I need to eat, rather than what looks tasty. When I'm hungry, everything looks tasty.

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I'll list a few things that could help, but at the end of the day it really comes down to your own ability to decide to eat a certain way.

Log your meals/snacks

Writing down what you eat makes it easy to figure out a total calorie count at the end of the day, and will also help you to gain a sense of how much you should be eating throughout the day. If you write things down right before you eat them, the desire to not have to write something unhealthy can sometimes be enough to prevent yourself from eating it. Over time, a log can help you see long term trends in your diet and better identify areas you might wish to change.

Eat at home

When you go out to eat, whether for fast food or restaurant style, its much easier to convince yourself to splurge. Also, even when you purchase something healthy, its likely to be much less healthy than a meal you made yourself. When you go grocery shopping, make sure to go in with the mindset of prepping yourself to make healthy meals; if you don't purchase unhealthy foods there, you prevent yourself from eating poorly at home. Also, shopping while full can help keep your mind on the healthiest foods, rather than the ones you'd like to eat at that time.

Establish short-term, reachable goals

Shorter term goals (reachable within a couple weeks) can help motivate you while working out, but they also serve a purpose in maintaining a healthy diet. When a goal is within reach, you will likely be able to more easily mentally associate a healthy meal with achievement of that goal. This association can give you the mental strength to turn down an unhealthy meal, as your desire to achieve your goal outweighs your cravings.

Tell people your goals

This one can backfire if you tell the wrong people (ie ones who don't want you to succeed) but sharing a goal with a friend or coach can give you a stronger reason not to cheat. If you tell a friend you're trying to eat healthy, your desire to not appear a hypocrite will help you not order those fries or that smoothie. Even better, if your confidant is dieting as well, you two can work to push each other in the right direction.

As I mentioned at the top, these things may help, but regardless of what you do to ease the effort, eating healthy comes down to your mindset. Take some time to identify the reasons you want to eat healthy, and make sure you remember those reasons. If you still have trouble, try writing them down and posting them on your wall or keeping them in your pocket. At the end of the day, these reasons are what will keep you on track.